The whole point of free speech is not to make ideas exempt from criticism but to expose them to it.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

So, is Hasan an Islamic terrorist? And was the massacre at Fort Hood a jihadist attack?

I heard this on the tube this morning: "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but the vast majority of terrorists are Muslim." It reminds me of something I've heard regarding alcohol. "I don't get in trouble every time I drink, but every time I've gotten in trouble, I've been drinking."

The nation thus far seems loathe to consider that the attack on Ft. Hood was a function of religious fervor run amok. But in refusing to look at it that way, are we perhaps enabling the intolerable and fooling ourselves in the process?

8 comments:

I think it's interesting to hear that in 1991, a white racist incensed by the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings killed more people at Fort Hood than Hasan did.

The white racist had political motivation, a basic element of terrorism. But he doesn't seem to be remembered as a terrorist. Nor do Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, even though what they did in Oklahoma City certainly was terrorism.

From Wikipedia entry "Delusions":"Religious delusion: Any delusion with a religious or spiritual content. These may be combined with other delusions, such as grandiose delusions (the belief that the affected person was chosen by God, for example), delusions of control, or delusions of guilt. Beliefs that would be considered normal for an individual's religious or cultural background are not necessarily delusions."

We have to be careful in ascribing abhorrent to religious fervor when the religious fervor might be a chemical imbalance. Did Hasan kill because he is a Moslem or because he is disturbed? Of course we also are afflicted with a great deal of wrong information as to the general content of the Koran and Moslem belief. That makes it hard for us to casually look at someone like Hasan and determine the extent of his delusions.

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A Creed

Politics was defined in an essay by the incomparable Lewis Lapham, at the time managing editor of Harper's magazine. He said, Politics is the continuous argument over who gets to do what to whom, for how long, and against what degree of dissent. It has yet to be said better.